https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/pentagons-fortress-america-hardens-us-bases/562404

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is moving to harden major U.S. military installations against attacks on civilian power grids, cyber intrusions and disruptions to critical supply chains under a new initiative called FORTRESS America. Announced by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Sept. 30, the program seeks to ensure that American forces can continue operating even when the civilian infrastructure supporting them is damaged or unavailable.

Quick Look Five pillars: Energy independence, supply-chain resilience, strategic reserves, installation hardening and cyber resilience, and protection of space and electromagnetic-spectrum capabilities. Independent power: Major installations are expected to become less dependent on civilian electrical grids. Program office: An Oct. 6 memorandum designated Richard “Matt” O'Malley interim director of the FORTRESS America Program Office. Energy comes first: Pentagon officials have identified installation assessments, microgrids and battery storage as early priorities. Reported 90-day standard: Fox News Digital reported that major continental U.S. bases would be expected to sustain essential operations independently for at least 90 days. The public announcement does not specify that duration. Industrial resilience: The initiative also addresses critical supplies, domestic production and the ability to mobilize civilian manufacturing during a crisis. The initiative reflects a growing concern that an adversary could disrupt U.S. military operations without first striking a base directly. Power failures, compromised communications, interrupted fuel deliveries and damaged transportation networks could affect military readiness long before an attack reaches an installation's perimeter. The Pentagon's challenge is to make its bases more resilient while maintaining the ability to project military power abroad.

Why Now: The Threat to the Homeland Hegseth presented FORTRESS America as a response to a changing threat environment in which the United States can no longer assume that two oceans will protect the infrastructure supporting its military. Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell made a similar argument in an Oct. 25 statement shared on X, linking the initiative to the administration's broader homeland-defense priorities, including Golden Dome and a renewed focus on the Western Hemisphere.

Modern military installations depend on extensive networks beyond their boundaries. Commercial electricity supplies power to buildings, communications systems, maintenance facilities and other critical functions. Bases also depend on municipal water, fuel distribution, transportation, commercial telecommunications and a steady flow of parts and supplies. An adversary that disrupts these systems could reduce a base's ability to generate sorties, maintain command-and-control capabilities, move equipment or support personnel without launching a conventional attack against the installation itself.

That vulnerability is documented, not merely theoretical. In February 2024, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, National Security Agency and FBI issued a joint advisory on Volt Typhoon, a Chinese state-sponsored cyber operation targeting U.S. critical infrastructure. The agencies warned that the actors had compromised networks in sectors including communications, energy, transportation, and water and wastewater systems. They assessed that the activity was intended to establish access that could support disruptive or destructive attacks during a major crisis or conflict. The advisory establishes a relevant threat to civilian infrastructure, although the Pentagon's public FORTRESS announcement does not identify Volt Typhoon as the specific trigger for the initiative.

Russia's war against Ukraine has provided another demonstration of the strategic consequences of attacks on electricity generation and distribution. Repeated strikes on energy infrastructure have disrupted civilian services and complicated the operation of essential facilities. The broader lesson for U.S. defense planners is that infrastructure can be a target in its own right, while damage to civilian systems can also undermine military operations that depend on them.

FORTRESS America seeks to reduce these vulnerabilities at the installation level. The objective is not simply to add generators or strengthen fences, but to determine which functions must continue during a prolonged disruption and what infrastructure, supplies and backup systems are required to keep them operating.

Hegseth’s Five-Pillar Plan Hegseth announced FORTRESS America during his Sept. 30 State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. The name stands for Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability. The initiative is organized around five pillars.

The initiative is built around five pillars:

Energy independence: Enabling major installations to generate and distribute electricity independently of civilian grids. Supply-chain and defense industrial base resilience: Reducing dependence on vulnerable sources of critical materials and components. Strategic defense reserve: Maintaining essential supplies, potentially including munitions, fuel, medicine and blood. Installation hardening and cyber resilience: Protecting bases against cyber intrusion, sabotage and drones. Resilience in space and the electromagnetic spectrum: Preserving communications, navigation and other capabilities if satellites or spectrum-dependent systems are disrupted. These objectives are interconnected. Independent power offers limited protection if an installation loses access to water, fuel or essential replacement parts. Strategic reserves cannot sustain operations indefinitely if transportation networks fail or domestic industry cannot replenish them. FORTRESS therefore treats base resilience as a system-wide problem rather than a collection of separate infrastructure projects.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies has described FORTRESS as a resilience effort intended to preserve the military's ability to project power. Making installations more self-sufficient does not eliminate the need for overseas logistics, allied support or functioning national supply networks. It is intended to give commanders more options when those networks are disrupted.

Program Office Moves Toward Implementation On Oct. 6, Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey issued a memorandum designating Richard “Matt” O'Malley interim director of the FORTRESS America Program Office. DefenseScoop reported on the memorandum the following day.

Duffey instructed senior officials across the department to designate representatives to coordinate with the new office. Those officials cover the Air Force, personnel and readiness, sustainment, industrial-base policy, energy and installations, information technology, administration and management, and the department's comptroller. The office is intended to coordinate implementation across the five pillars and track progress.

Energy Resilience Is the Early Priority At an Oct. 20 Defense Writers Group roundtable, a senior defense official identified energy resilience as an early focus, including installation assessments, microgrids and battery storage. The official acknowledged that other parts of the initiative could take years to implement. The immediate task is to establish how much power each installation needs, which missions are most critical and where existing systems are vulnerable. Air & Space Forces Magazine reported on the discussion.

A microgrid can operate alongside the commercial electrical network but may also disconnect and supply designated loads independently. Combined with adequate generation, energy storage and appropriate controls, it can help maintain critical operations during a grid outage. Its effectiveness depends on more than installed battery capacity: a base must have sufficient energy sources, distribution equipment, trained personnel and the ability to operate for the required duration.

Nuclear microreactors have also been discussed as a potential source of sustained power, but their deployment involves substantial engineering, licensing, security, construction and cost considerations. The Pentagon has not publicly established a single technology or deployment schedule for all bases.

The Reported 90-Day Standard On Oct. 25, Fox News Digital reported, citing documents it reviewed, that major military installations in the continental United States would be expected to sustain essential operations independently for at least 90 days. The report described planning involving electricity, water, fuel, communications and other services necessary to maintain military operations. It also discussed alternative energy sources, strategic reserves and more resilient supply chains.

Supply Chains and the Civilian Industrial Base Beyond base hardening, FORTRESS America seeks to improve access to critical materials and equipment, build strategic reserves and strengthen domestic production. The initiative also addresses the ability to bring civilian manufacturing capacity into defense production during a crisis, extending resilience planning from individual installations to the industrial system that sustains them. The practical challenge will be to identify critical dependencies, establish adequate reserves and ensure that suppliers can continue producing and delivering essential items when normal commercial networks are disrupted.

What It Means For American Citizens FORTRESS America is focused on military installations, but the vulnerabilities it addresses extend well beyond the gates of a military base. The United States depends on interconnected power grids, water systems, communications networks, transportation infrastructure and industrial supply chains. A cyberattack, sabotage or other disruption affecting one of these systems can have consequences far beyond its original target. A military installation may have generators and emergency plans, but ordinary American families and businesses will also find themselves without electricity, water, communications or access to routine supplies.

Britain is taking a more direct approach to household preparedness. On Oct. 22, 2026, its government launched the Be Ready campaign, advising citizens to maintain basic supplies sufficient for 72 hours without normal services. The recommendations include drinking water, non-perishable food, essential medicines, a flashlight, spare batteries, a battery-powered or wind-up radio and a first-aid kit. The campaign addresses a range of emergencies, including severe weather and interruptions to essential services, against a wider national-security backdrop in which British officials have warned about hostile-state threats and the possibility of a direct threat to the homeland.

Fight and Win by 2030 Britain’s 72-hour household preparedness advice is not a prediction that war is imminent, but it comes against a clear strategic backdrop. The British government has identified Russia as an immediate threat, warned of growing risks to the homeland and called for NATO to be ready to fight and win a war by 2030. The household guidance is officially intended to cover a range of emergencies, but it also reflects a broader recognition that essential services would be disrupted during a serious national crisis. Stop and think what the long-term effects of suddenly losing electricity and water would be for tens of thousands or millions of people.

For American households we should consider this a clue to what may be coming. The practical lesson is familiar to anyone who takes preparedness seriously: do not assume that electricity, running water, communications and readily available supplies will always be there when you need them.

A reasonable starting point is to keep drinking water and shelf-stable food on hand, maintain essential medicines, have reliable lighting and a way to receive emergency information, and plan for family members who may need additional assistance. The right preparations depend on household size, climate, medical needs and the kinds of disruptions most likely to affect a particular area.

Foreign nation-states possess the capability to disrupt critical American infrastructure, including power grids, communications networks and other systems on which daily life depends. Such attacks are not merely theoretical, and Americans should recognize that a serious disruption could affect essential services, supply chains and access to everyday necessities. Awareness of that risk is the first step; taking reasonable precautions, when possible, is the next.

Keeping essential supplies on hand and having a plan for temporary interruptions to electricity, water and communications can reduce a household’s dependence on outside assistance during the initial stages of a crisis. FORTRESS America seeks to ensure that U.S. military installations can continue operating under such conditions. Citizens cannot provide the same level of protection for the nation’s infrastructure, but they can take practical steps to make their own households more resilient if those systems fail.